Thursday, February 4, 2016

Graphic Novel Recommendations

Hi guys. Today I'm here to recommend some graphic novels and comics to you. Whether you're new to the genre or you're simply looking for a new comic or graphic novel to pick up, I hope you'll find this post useful. 
This post is divided into two parts to make it easier for you to browse these titles. The first part looks at series of graphic novels and comics, both completed and ongoing and the second part looks at stand alone graphic novels.

Graphic Novel and Comic Book Series

Saga


Status - Ongoing comic series
Writer(s) - Brian K. Vaughan
Artist(s) - Fiona Staples

Alana and Marko are runaway soldiers from opposite sides of a huge ongoing galactic war. After falling in love and becoming parents to a child born of the two warring races, they find themselves prey to military forces and ruthless mercenaries alike. Mixing fantasy and science fiction in a space opera as sexy as it is action packed, this series is my go-to graphic novel recommendation for new and old fans of the genre.  

Locke and Key


Status - Completed graphic novel series
Writer(s) - Joe Hill
Artist(s) - Gabriel Rodriguez


After their father’s murder, the Locke siblings move with their mother to Keyhouse, an old mansion that has belonged to their family for years. Soon after they move in, Bode, the youngest of the family, accidentally uncovers a door that gives him strange abilities. As Bode and siblings begin to truly explore their new home, they begin to uncover strange keys which lead to secret doors hidden all over the house, each one with a unique magic of its own. Unbeknown to them though, aside from its magical secrets, Keyhouse is also home to an ancient malignant being. This series was written by Joe Hill, who is none other than Stephen King’s son and seems to share his father’s gift for crafting beautiful but dark stories. This series is a must for fans of horror novels and is a personal favorite of mine. It does contain some gore though so you might keep that in mind should you check it out.


Fables


Status - Completed comic series
Writer(s) - Bill Willingham
Artist(s) - Various


Forced into exile after a powerful enemy takes over their lands, fairy tale creatures from various stories and myths come seek shelter in our world. Now, in modern day New York, their secret society has grown into a private community of their own which they call Fabletown. A reformed Big Bad Wolf is their sheriff while Snow White is their ever efficient deputy mayor. All seems to be going well until Snow’s wild child sister, Rose Red, is reported as murdered. The suspects? Rose’s notoriously psycho ex-lover Bluebeard and her current boyfriend, Jack, made famous for his beanstalk climbing antics. With its sharp humor, cool intrigue, plot twists and the occasional unexpected death, Fables is right now my favorite comic series. While it starts as a mere murder mystery sprinkled with humor and fairy tale elements, the series quickly escalate into a phenomenon of sheer epicness that will make you keep turning the pages.


Alex + Ada


Status - Completed graphic novel series
Writer(s) - Johnathan Luna
Artist(s) - Sarah Vaughn


In a near future, where humans have developed artificially intelligent androids, a new and somewhat controversial type of android has been release on the market, the X5. These high-priced robots are made to look like normal people and are equipped with a huge database of intelligence which gives them the ability to act almost human. Because of this, these androids have been adopted by rich people for companionship purposes. Our main character, Alex, one day receives an unexpected gift for his birthday from his wealthy grandmother. Alex opens the box and to his shock, finds within a female X5 android ready to be switched on and activated. What he chooses to do next changes his life forever. This is one of the best comics I've ever read. The artwork is rather simplistic but beautiful at the same time and works perfectly with the brilliant character development and gripping story. Trust me, you don’t even have to be a sci-fi fan to enjoy this one.


Stand Alone Graphic Novels


In Real Life


Status - Stand Alone graphic novel
Writer(s) - Cory Doctorow
Artist(s) - Jen Wang


Anda has newly joined Coarsegold Online, a massively-multiplayer role-playing game, where she goes on virtual missions and adventures through her in-game persona, a powerful redheaded warrior. Things take a complicated turn when Anda come across a gold farmer, one of the strange, silent avatars who seem to be illegally collecting valuables intended to be sold to other players. When the avatar talks to her, Anda is intrigued and immediately wants to know more about the avatar, and the person who controls it. The avatar turns out to belong to a poor Chinese boy who is paid to conduct these illegal in-game dealings. There are many others like him and while what they are doing is illegal, it's also pretty much the only thing that keeps them safe and fed. Anda thus comes to question what's morally right or wrong and embarks on her own real life mission to strive to be the hero who's only so far been real in her imagination.


Anya's Ghost


Status - Stand Alone graphic novel
Writer(s) - Vera Brosgol
Artist(s) - Vera Brosgol


After Anya falls at the bottom of a well, she makes the unexpected acquaintance of a ghost. The two become friends and soon, Anya’s ghost is accompanying her everywhere, helping her navigate school halls and giving her tips to make her more popular. After a while though, Anya begins to realize that being haunted isn’t as fun as she originally thought… Spooky at times, deeply touching at others, this isn’t quite a ghost story but rather a coming of age story with its fair share of ghostly elements. It’s definitely not a horror though and is one I’d recommend to everyone. 


So those were my graphic novel and comic book recommendations. If you have recommendations for me based on the titles I've included here, do share them with me in the comments ^^

8 comments:

  1. Alex + Ada, ah! How it hurt my soul so and made me so happy all at once. I loved that series for all that it offered and don't even want more (because I don't want to be ruined from the adventure I had). I like this list quite a lot. I love stand alone's a lot and always wonder what's worth the read other than the sort of spin off's of Watchmen or the million and one Batman ones I own (and still haven't read). I'm going to look into a few of these!

    Also, it's hard to find people who actually know what Saga is and actually love it/ keep up with it. You are my people!

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    1. I'm also happy the series ended where it did. I feel it could have been ruined if it had dragged on. Thanks, I'm glad you like my recommendations ^^ Hopefully you'll find something you enjoy here! Haha I totally get what you mean for Saga! I don't know many people who also read it. Glad to have found you haha :)

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  2. I've had Saga on my radar for quite some time now but a lot of these other ones you have here are new to me so I'll be checking them out on GR and likely adding them to my tbr shelf haha! Awesome selection here Soudha xxxx

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    1. I'm glad you found these recommendations useful Micheline ^^

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  3. I haven't read too many graphic novels but that is something I want to start doing in time. Saga is definitely top of my TBR list in that case, but then Anya's Ghost and Into the Woods are some that have caught my eye as well.

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    1. I hope you'll enjoy the ones you do pick up. Saga is a great one to start with :)

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  4. I'm a total newbie when it comes to graphic novels. But I did read Saga (parts 1-3 so far) and I love it! I also really liked Nimona by Noelle Stevenson - it's a YA sci-fi and fantasy mashup and it's great!
    I did read Blankets by Craig Thompson YEARS ago and I remember loving it - I have it at home and I'll have to re-read it!
    Thanks for the recs! :)

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    1. Oh I must pick up Nimona. Everyone seems to be loving this one! I'll also have to look up Blankets. Thanks for your recs as well ^^

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